STXNEWS LATAM-Profit at Brazil's SulAmérica more than doubles in third quarter

Redacción de Reuters

1 MIN. DE LECTURA

Net income at Brazilian insurer SulAmérica SA more than doubled in the third quarter as revenue from underwritten premiums and investments rose from the prior quarter and management kept a lid on expenses.

The São Paulo-based company, controlled by the Larragoiti family, said profit was 119.8 million reais ($49 million) in the quarter, compared with 53.6 million reais in the prior three months, according to a securities filing on Tuesday. On an annual basis, net income rose 2.3 percent, helped by rising premiums, wider margins on the life and retirement segments and higher investment income.

Annualized return on equity, or a gauge of profitability that measures how well shareholder money is being spent, slipped to 14.9 percent from 15.2 percent in the second quarter. In the same period a year earlier, ROE, as the indicator is commonly known, was 13.6 percent.

Management will discuss results with analysts at a conference call early on Wednesday.